A/N: Ye be warned, lemons are ahead. Stop reading when you hit the warning if you do not wish to read it. Again, I say thank you to my Beta, Smurfette39... Awesome work.

As soon as Harry and Hermione landed back in his flat, She couldn't stop the tears that started to flow. She didn't want to cry, she didn't want Blake to win anymore. All she wanted was to be the way she was, but how could she when the slightest action made her recoil like a frightened puppy.

Flashes of her marriage went through her mind. She could see him again, standing over her with a raised fist, angry words spilling from his mouth, insulting, degrading and shaming her for no reason other then being his wife – and she hated him for it.

The what -ifs stated next. What if she had never accepted him back after the first time? What if she would have fought back with the vengeance she knew she possessed instead of thinking it would change if she waited it out? What if she had never married Blake and married Ron instead like he wanted? Would it have been different? Would it have been better even if she didn't love him? It was too much for her mind to process and she finally broke down.

She had been trying to hold it together and one simple action from a man she once considered a best friend brought her down to her knees. One act of violence towards her was all it took to bring her back to day one, the night she stumbled into Harry's flat bloodied and bruised. "Help me Harry," she finally sobbed out. "Help me be me again."

Harry walked over to her and lifted her from her knees, pulling her into his chest. He rubbed small comforting circles on her back to soothe her and used his other hand to stroke her hair. "He wouldn't hit you, you know he wouldn't," Harry said with a sigh

"I d- didn't think B-Blake ever would either," she cried. "Why do they all lash out at me? What do I do that is so wrong?"

"You did nothing... absolutely nothing," he whispered into her hair. "I want you to come with me, I want to show you something."

She nodded into his chest and allowed Harry to pull her towards the bedroom. She thought he was going to comfort her the way he had been doing, coddle her like the child she felt she was at times but what he did was something she never expected.

She felt her self get spun around and came face to face with herself as Harry stood behind her. The floor length mirror she had never noticed before was showing her what she had become and she didn't like it.

"When I look at you," Harry started, "I see a girl that I grew up with, a girl that stuck with me through everything, comforted me when I came back from the summer at my cousin's, helped me defeat the darkest wizard known to our world."

He raised her hands to the mirror.

"These hands are able to use a wand and defend what she believes in. These hands have been a source of comfort for me over the years with their gentle touches that show me that you care."

He then ran his hands over her arms.

"These arms... these arms are the ones that wrapped around my neck when we shared times of happiness, sadness, and friendship."

Next came her face. He raised his index fingers and ran them under her eyes.

"These eyes have shown me everything from fear to loyalty. They have shown me strength when I needed it as well as when others needed it. The eyes are said to be windows to the soul and when I look at them... I don't see a girl that was treated unfairly and hurt. I don't see a girl that wants to hide from this and let thing heal slowly; Do you know what I see?"

Hermione shook her head 'no'.

"I see the girl I admired since I was eleven years old. I see the girl who didn't put up with being called names. I see the fighter that is hiding – and I want her to come back to me."

Lastly, he moved his hand over her heart.

"What you can't see is what is most important. Inside this chest is a heart, the organ that pumps the blood that keeps your body alive. The organ that if it were to quit, you would cease to exist. I can feel it beating. I can feel the strength of which it pumps, the beats that are thumping loudly, telling you that you are alive."

He slowly spun her around to where she was facing him.

"I can feel your body wanting to live, wanting to do what it was meant to do and I know your mind and spirit are on the same wave length."

He tipped her chin so her eyes would meet his. "I know you can fight this, I know you are stronger then how you feel right now and I know that you will beat this."

Hermione searched the green eyes of the man she considered to be her best friend. She searched for any signs of doubt and found that he had no doubt at all. "I won't let them win Harry," she stated softly. "I wont."

Harry smiled and gave her a kiss on the forehead, "I know you won't – you're too stubborn for that."

- stop reading now if you don't want to read the lemons-

She smiled and reached her hands up to his face and stroked her thumbs along his cheek bones. She didn't know why she was doing this. She didn't know how he would react but her body went on its own accord and she stood on her toes. His eyes never left her nor did her eyes leave his and for a split second she hesitated before she finally placed her lips to his.

It wasn't a heated snog or a messy fumbling of the lips – it was slow... it was strengthening... it was what she needed to prove to Harry as well as herself that she was alive and she was ready to fight harder then she had ever fought for anything. After a few minutes she finally pulled away slowly, still looking into his eyes.

"Take me to the Ministry Harry. I want to file for divorce. I want to cut all strings from that monster and start over fresh."

Her lips were moving. He knew she was saying something but for the life of him he couldn't hear her. He could still feel her lips on his and everything else around him was a blur. He pulled her to him again and brought her into another kiss, wanting to taste her again. She didn't protest. She didn't try to stop him. She was lost in the kiss just as he was and for the first time in a long time her heart was happy.

Her hands laced around his neck and his around her waist, pulling her flush against him.

"I need you Harry," she whispered against his lips. Harry nodded and started walking them backwards towards the bed, never breaking the contact between them.

"Are you sure about this?" he asked, not wanting her to regret it later.

"I need to trust, I need to feel and I want to start my life over with the one person I have always been able to count on."

"Alright but if you want to stop at any point just say it."

Hermione nodded but knew she wouldn't want to stop. She needed the contact that she had been without for so long. She felt his lips move across her cheek and down to her neck while his hands ghosted over her back. Her hands dropped to his chest where she hesitated to do anything further, not that she didn't want to but with Blake she had learned the hard way not do anything without his specific instructions.

Harry noticed.

"Just do what you want to do," he whispered into her neck. "This is just as much about you as it is me – think of it as your first step in taking control of your life."

Hermione nodded and with a smirk, she raised his hands up in the air and lifted his shirt from his body, revealing his lean, muscular chest. Her hands gently began to roam over his newly exposed flesh causing him to moan. She lowered her mouth to his chest and gave it a gentle nip before soothing the spot with her tongue, earning a slight growl from Harry. His hands dropped to the hem of her shirt and pulled it over her head, dropping it to the floor at their feet. His hand then reached behind her and unclasped her bra.

"Are you completely sure about this?" he asked once again before removing the bra from her body.

"I am sure Harry... completely."

He then lowered the straps from her shoulders letting the bra fall from her arms. He stepped closer again, pressing his body into hers and walked her to the bed, gently pushing her down onto the mattress. He crawled onto the bed with her and positioned himself over her where he licked his way down from her neck to her breast, circling her nipple with his tongue.

"Oh gods Harry," she groaned, suddenly realizing how much she missed the enjoyment of mutual pleasure. He took her nipple into his mouth completely, gently sucking on the hardened peak while flicking it with his tongue. Her hand reached out and placed it onto his head, arching to the contact.

"Merlin I want you." He finally groaned out.

She sat up and went to work on his jeans, unbuttoning and unzipping them quickly before pushing them and his boxers down to his knees where he removed them the rest of the way. He pushed her back gently and returned the favor, leaving them both naked as the day they were born. He crawled up her body and between her already spread legs.

"Are you ready?"

She nodded a yes and pulled his mouth back to hers as he slid inside her. Her legs wrapped around his hips and locked him in place.

"Merlin you feel good... so tight," he hissed as he started to move inside her. Her muscles clinched around him as his words spilled through her body, making her tingle. He started off with long, gentle thrusts but as her mews became louder and quicker so did he. It didn't take long for things to start moving at a more furious pace. He claimed her body as she claimed his, feeling the need that radiated off of them in waves.

"Oh god," she almost sobbed. "I – I can't hold it."

Harry heard her words and began to thrust faster, wanting to come with her. He felt her body tighten around him and with a final hard thrust, he exploded into bliss with her, riding their shared orgasms to completion.